The first wave of 100 artists to test the reorganized waters of South by Southwest 2026 has been announced. Film, tech, and music festival programming will run concurrently this year at clubhouses across Downtown March 12-18.
Oklahoma-bred Aughts pop-punk act All-American Rejects, whose House Party Tour caught the attention of media outlets prior to their Oct. 24 EP release Eggshell Tap Dancer, will kick off the Music Festival Opening Party at Stubb’s Amphitheater on Thursday, March 12.
New international acts on the showcase stages will include electrobending Irish post-punk rockers Chalk, Mexico City-based indie rock project La Texana, Copenhagen bedroom psych producer Fine, and socially conscious Indonesian pop-rock trio Grrrl Gang, who performed in 2021’s online-only version of the festival.
L.A.-based live coding experimenter DJ_Dave and Grammy-nominated rapper Joyner Lucas will also play, as will Nug, Being Dead’s Portland, Oregon, tourmates.
After many years of sharing a calendar date with SXSW programming, Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion will be an official presenter this year. Dream Con – a gaming, anime, and music convention created to uplift Black creators in those spaces – will also host an official showcase, as will local festival series R&B Block Party.
Ukrainian rap group Kalush Orchestra are the only out-of-town SXSW alumni announced so far, but Texas music fans will recognize Houston’s Aaron Page, who played ACL this past October, and Dallas-based country songwriter Joshua Ray Walker, who performed at ACL back in 2022.
Austin acts include indie rockers Elijah Delgato, Montclair, Commercial Breaks, and Grocery Bag, plus their more raucous companions Bubba Lucky and Gus Baldwin & the Sketch. Experimental electronic artists Bayonne and buffalo_farm will perform, as will club DJ Just Jim, rapper J Soulja, country-inspired songwriter Calder Allen, OUTlaw Pride Festival founder Julie Nolen, Southern rock group the Red Eye Gamblers, and queer country trio Next of Kin.
See the full artist list below.
Just Jim (Austin, TX)
NEZZA (San Jose, CA)
Nug (Portland, OR)
Casket Cassette (Los Angeles, CA)
Reilly Downes (Chicago, IL)
Karma Sheen (London, UK)
Couch Dog (San Luis Obispo, CA)
Milo Korbenski (Brighton, UK)
BrunOG (Mexico City, Mexico)
Kalush Orchestra (Kyiv, Ukraine)
Karina Galicia (Mexico City, Mexico)
Angela Autumn (Zelienople, PA)
t-low (Hamburg, Germany)
Arroba Nat (Mexico City, Mexico)
Valsian (Mexico City, Mexico)
Los Discorde (Mexico City, Mexico)
Cardinal Bloom (Salt Lake City, UT)
Chalk (Belfast, Ireland)
DJ_Dave (Los Angeles, CA)
Hania Derej (Tychy, Poland)
Jana Diab (London, UK)
Pretty Jane (Nashville, TN)
Planeta No (Santiago, Chile)
Radium Dolls (Brisbane, Australia)
Gus Englehorn (Wailuku, HI)
Zastava (Detroit, MI)
Creature Canyon (San Diego, CA
Hector Gannet (North Shields, UK)
Julie Nolen (Austin, TX)
The Family Battenberg (Cardiff, UK)
Ben Ellis (Cardiff, UK)
Elijah Delgado (Austin, TX)
Montclair (Austin, TX)
Unsafe Space Garden (Guimarães, Portugal)
Bricknasty (Dublin, Ireland)
La Texana (Mexico City, Mexico)
The Band Loula (Nashville, TN)
YARD (Dublin, Ireland)
Hudson Freeman (Brooklyn, NY)
Adeline Hotel (Brooklyn, NY)
Jovi Greene (Potomac, MD)
IYLA (Los Angeles, CA)
Jaylon Ashaun (Houston, TX)
The Sophs (Los Angeles, CA)
Bayonne (Austin, TX)
Sofish (Guadalajara, Mexico)
Grrrl Gang (Yogyakarta, Indonesia)
Buddy Red (Atlanta, GA)
Victor Jones (Brooklyn, NY)
Steven Bamidele (London, UK)
Next of Kin (Austin, TX)
Paisley Fields (Brooklyn, NY)
Emily Frembgen (Brooklyn, NY)
Jordan Patterson (Los Angeles, CA)
Commercial Breaks (Austin, TX)
KOAD (Los Angeles, CA)
REHMA (Chicago, IL)
Spike Fuck (Melbourne, Australia)
runo plum (Minneapolis, MN)
Joshua Ray Walker (Dallas, TX)
People R Ugly (Orange County, CA)
Pierce Washington (Dallas, TX)
Bubba Lucky (Austin, TX)
buffalo_farm (Austin, TX)
Grocery Bag (Austin, TX)
Hot Garbage (Toronto, ON)
Shunk (Montreal, QC)
Brainwasher (Oklahoma, OK)
LYNN (Birmingham, AL)
Zola Marcelle (London, UK)
Baria (London, UK)
J Soulja (Austin, TX)
Knats (Newcastle, UK)
Redolent (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Hana Eid (Nashville, TN)
David Huckfelt (Minneapolis, MN)
Calder Allen (Austin, TX)
MC Frontalot (Berkeley, CA)
AJ McQueen (St Louis, MI)
Elijah Johnston (Atlanta, GA)
Aaron Page (Houston, TX)
The Red Eye Gamblers (Austin, TX)
Gus Baldwin & The Sketch (Austin, TX)
Kaash Paige (Dallas, TX)
All American Rejects (Stillwater, OK)
Glassio (New York, NY)
Whitelands (London, UK)
Mackwood (London, UK)
Easy Honey (Charleston, SC)
Mali Hâf (Cardiff, UK)
Georgian (Manchester, UK)
Wim Tapley & The Cannons (Athens, GA)
Five Eight (Athens, GA)
DeVotchKa (Denver, CO)
Feet (London, UK)
Sūn Byrd (Oslo, Denmark)
Fine (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Matt McClure (Nashville, TN)
Olivia Ellen Lloyd (Shepherdstown, WV)
bloodsports (Brooklyn, NY)